


Starlight

by DecorDilemma



Series: MegaRod Week 2020 [4]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: M/M, Semi-poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27037396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecorDilemma/pseuds/DecorDilemma
Summary: At the beginning, Rodimus is an ember.
Relationships: Megatron/Rodimus | Rodimus Prime
Series: MegaRod Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969036
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17
Collections: Megarod Week





	Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for MegaRod Week day 4, for the prompt(s) Sun (& Moon).  
> I wasn't sure what to write for today so I decided to experiment. The result is this. :D

When Megatron first meets Hot Rod, he is reminded of an ember. Almost exhausted but still flickering, striving to gain ground against impossible odds.

He looks forward to coaxing that ember into a flame. What better tool to burn down the world than someone who has lost his?

As usual, Starscream ruins the plan.

During the war he catches glimpses of Hot Rod and thinks nothing of it.

On some detached, factual level Megatron knows that he is rising in the enemy ranks; Soundwave’s reports leave nothing out.

And then Hot Rod is no more.

Were someone to ask Megatron to describe Hot Rod afterward, he wouldn’t have much to say. 

Suitable for target practice, one of a million Autobots to crush under his heel. Nothing but a piece of coal. Unnecessary. 

Useful, though, for destroying the Matrix.

The Prime has the Matrix and Hot Rod still burns bright.

And then, the war is gone.

* * *

The trial is liquid fire in his lines and Rodimus mocks him in his cell.

Deserved, all of it.

And yet he wants Rodimus to burn instead.

What kind of a name is Rodimus, anyway?

Rodimus _Prime_ , he corrects, once he sees the crew manifest.

Optimus must be enjoying this.

The so-called Prime is like a wildfire, burning everything in its path.

No control. No respect.

Useless.

Just like Starscream.

After a while, he reconsiders.

Rodimus lacks control, yes, but so does he.

He lacks respect, but the war is over. The ship is his.

Optimus holds no power here except for that which Rodimus grants.

Megatron stands at a precipice.

Stuck in a corner, he clings to the captaincy.

If smoke and mirrors are all he has, he must fan the flames himself.

Fan them enough and Rodimus is bound to break. He must.

The desperation tastes sour in his intake.

He clings less. And less.

And Rodimus burns brighter.

He is unpredictable, uncontrollable.

Megatron realizes, with a start—

Rodimus is warm.

* * *

He runs as fast as he can but doesn’t make it.

Only Terminus remains and there is a hole in the world.

The Rodimus Star weighs in his subspace, invisible.

He _will_ return.

After an eternity, the Last Light gives him the good news; Rodimus and Minimus still live.

He calls, they answer. The warmth is back.

Such simple things, and yet Megatron wants to laugh.

They made it.

They talk. His spark aches.

Rodimus burns bright as a star and his words scald.

He is finally home. He is content.

It is all worth it.

* * *

Rodimus is starlight.

Sometimes he burns too bright, too hot.

He knows, and shares the warmth.

And Megatron, too, burns a little brighter.


End file.
